Anderson Issue Not Decided By Narasimha Rao On His Own: Son

The Anderson issue showed no signs of abating on Friday with P V Narasimha Rao's son, Ranga Rao suggesting that his father would not have taken a decision on his own on granting "safe passage"

PTI [ Updated: June 18, 2010 17:29 IST ]

anderson issue not decided by narasimha rao on his own son

The Anderson issue showed no signs of abating on Friday with P V Narasimha Rao's son, Ranga Rao suggesting that his father would not have taken a decision on his own on granting "safe passage" to the Union Carbide chief a few days after the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

Contesting the claim made by the then Foreign Secretary M K Rasgotra that Narasimha Rao was instrumental in allowing Warren Anderson to leave the country, Ranga Rao said, "I don't think my father took such a big decision on his own".

"He had his own superiors. He had his own colleagues," Ranga Rao told television channels adding, "to put the entire blame on my father is unfair." Rasgotra had claimed that the decision to give Anderson safe passage was taken by the Home Ministry under Rao in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary. Contending that the Home Ministry had a "limited role" to play, Ranga Rao said several other ministries were "equally involved".

Ranga Rao said holding his father responsibile for an act in 1984 was unfair since Narasimha Rao cannot defend himself. "Knowing the nature of my father...he used to either delay the decision on many occasions or waited for the right time to make it," he said. PTI